Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 17 says, therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. That's a good verse of scripture,
isn't it? This message today came about
from a phone call that I received from a brother who heard me make
a statement last Sunday morning on the experience of salvation. That was the title of either
our Bible study or message, I can't remember, The Experience of Salvation. But the statement was, if a sinner
ever sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, salvation
has come to that sinner. If a sinner ever sees the glory
of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, salvation has come to
that center. This brother said that he got
to thinking about it and he wondered, have I ever seen the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ? Have I ever seen the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ? And what does that mean exactly?
This brother said, I got to thinking about it one evening, and he
said, I pondered, what does that mean exactly? And how will I
know if I have? And I'm going to tell you, I
wish more men and women would ask that question. Sometimes
we hear things and we know what they mean. We may not know what
they mean. We just let them roll on and we keep on going. I wish
more men and women would ask. Have I ever seen the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ? And what does that mean? And
if I have, how will I know? How will I know? This brother
said to me, He said, I know that we're supposed to be new creatures
in Christ. He told me he was listening to
another message where a man made the statement, we are new creatures
in Christ. And he said, I know that we're
supposed to be new creatures in Christ, but he said, I don't
feel like a new creature. And I said, I know the feeling. I know the feeling well. And I believe right then and
there, as we were talking, the Lord laid a message on my heart.
All of these thoughts came to my mind. And I asked him, I said,
do you mind if I use this conversation in a message? I know that there are other brethren
who struggle with this same thing. I know that. I mean, I literally
know there are because I talked to them. You remember not too
long ago, I told you about a woman who sent an email to me worried
over whether or not she was one of the Lords. And she said, if
you have scriptures or if you have a message that you could
bring on this, I would be grateful. And the Lord laid a message on
my heart. Um, examine yourselves, whether
you be in the faith, not the law, but the faith. And I can't tell you how many
people have contacted me and said, I'm so glad that that woman
contacted you and said this. And you know, I was in the same
boat with her. I cannot tell you how many people. This is a constant concern among
God's people. I know that we are supposed to
be new creatures in Christ, but I just don't feel like a new
creature. Have I ever really seen the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ? I'm going to give you the punchline
of our conversation and then I'll explain it through the rest
of the message, okay? I'm going to go ahead and give
you the punchline right now. I'm going to make up a name. We're just going to say that
I was talking to John Smith. I don't believe I know a John
Smith. So we're just going to pretend
like I was talking to John Smith. And he said to me, how can I
know if I have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?
How can I know if I have seen the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ? And I said, well, let me ask
you this. Do you see the glory of God in
the face of John Smith? And he said, absolutely not. And I said, where do you see
it? He said, in Jesus Christ. I see it in Jesus Christ. God's
people will never see the glory of God in this flesh. I know everybody thinks you're
supposed to. It is the natural mindset of
natural man. Man has to get his work in there
somehow. Man has to get his flesh in there
somehow. But this verse of scripture does
not say that we are new creatures in the flesh. It doesn't say
that. It says we are new creatures
in Christ. False religion has men and women
looking to the wrong place. It has them waking up every morning,
looking into a mirror, trying to see if they can see the glory
of God in their reflection. Men and women will never see
it there. Sinners will never see it there. We are not new
creatures in the flesh. We are new creatures in Jesus
Christ. We are new creatures in Jesus
Christ. We don't see the glory of God. I'm talking about, look,
Does the Lord increase our faith? Does he increase our love? The
disciples ask, you know, show us these things. Sure he does.
But let's talk about the glory of God. We will never see the glory of
God in this flesh. We see the glory of God in Jesus
Christ. What is the glory of God? Well, he said it was the fact
that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He will be
gracious to whom he will be gracious. He will show compassion on whom
he will show compassion. His glory is his sovereignty. Over all things. His glory is His holiness. His glory is His purity. His glory is His righteousness. His glory is His goodness. His glory is His obedience. His glory is His worthiness. All of that can only be seen
in Jesus Christ. We cannot look at the sinful
flesh of man and see the glorious things of God there. We must look to Jesus Christ
to see all of that. We have to look to Jesus Christ.
And I wanna take the rest of the message to prove that from
the scripture. Our Bible study, we just proved
it from the scripture. Tonight, we're gonna prove the
message tonight from the scripture. We're gonna, all day, we're just
proving with scripture. I like doing that, proving it
with Scripture. So turn with me to Romans 8.
I just asked our brother to read Romans 8 for our Scripture reading. Romans 8, verse 1, it says, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
new creatures in Christ Jesus. Well, how can I know if I'm in
Christ Jesus? What is the evidence of being in Christ Jesus? Verse
one goes on to say, who? All right, this is how you can
know who they are. This is the evidence of being
in Christ. Verse one says, who walk not
after the flesh. Somebody will say now, wait a
minute, is that talking about the bad, sinful things of the
flesh or the good things of the flesh? Well I have an answer for that
in a moment, but for now I'll say both. The flesh. The flesh. Those who are in Christ
walk not after. Walk after means find the way
of life by. That's what it translates to
mean. Find the way of life by. Those who are in Christ do not
find the way of life by the flesh. Who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. What is the Spirit? Well, the
Spirit is God. The end of verse nine says, the
Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Those who are in Christ see the
way of life to be by Christ, and not at all by the deeds of
this flesh. Verse one says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death, the law that exposes my sin and my death. Seeing it all in Christ has set
me free from trying to see it in me. And I'm gonna repeat that. Seeing it all in Christ has set
me free from trying to see it in me. Trying to see the glory of God
in me, that is the greatest bondage that I could ever know. That's
the greatest bondage I could ever know. It's the greatest
lie I could ever try to live. Me trying to convince you that
the glory of God is in this flesh right here, that is the greatest
lie I could ever try to live. Our Lord said, if I reveal the
truth to you, if you ever come to see and know the truth that
everything you're looking for and everything you hope to have
is in Christ. He said that truth will set you
free. It'll set you free. Verse two, for the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh. What could it not do?
It could not say justified. Well done. Couldn't say it. You look good to me. Couldn't
say it. What the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. I have a margin
in my Bible that says by a sacrifice for sin. Condemn sin in the flesh
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For they
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh." They
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. They're
always talking about the flesh. They keep coming back to the
flesh. They're always pointing men and
women back to the flesh. Yes, I know Christ did that,
absolutely, but now let's come back to the flesh now. You can't
forget about the flesh. They're always looking for the
evidence of these things in the flesh. Verse five, they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they
they're after the spirit of Christ. They mind the things of the spirit
for to be carnally minded. And in my margin says the minding
of the flesh for to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually
minded, Christ-minded, is life and peace. Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. What does that mean? That means
if Christ is in you and if you're in Christ, you are not going
to be looking to your flesh. If the spirit has made a new
creation, that spirit will point that new creation to Jesus Christ. Verse nine, you're not in the
flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin. What a wonderful line. If Christ
is in you, the body's dead because of sin. The body's dead. But the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh." You
know, aren't we debtors? This thing is by grace. Aren't
we debtors? We are debtors, but not to the
flesh. Not to the flesh, to live after
the flesh. Verse 13, for if you live after
the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, that means kill the deeds of
the body. Okay, hold on. Is he talking about the sinful
deeds of the body? Is he saying I need to kill the
sinful deeds of the body? He's talking about all the deeds
of the body. Well, what about the good deeds? There are none. There are none. There is none good but God. All of our good deeds are filthy
rags. The only good deeds that we have
are the deeds that Jesus Christ worked for us and gave to us. Verse 13, if you live after the
flesh, you shall die. But if you through the spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For
you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. I love that so much. We really
see what's being said right here. Our Lord told a man named Nicodemus
one time, It was a man who was confused by false religion. And that's all that false religion
will do for people, confuse them. He was confused by false religion
saying to the Lord, how do I make sense of all this? What he kept
asking the Lord was, but what about the flesh? How do I make
sense of all this? The Lord said, Nicodemus, here's
where you're going wrong. You are trying to mix two things
that cannot be mixed together. They cannot be mixed together. That's where all of our confusion
comes from. The Lord said, Nicodemus, there's
going to have to be an un-mixing. A separation is going to have
to take place in your mind and in your heart. He said, hear
this, understand this, that which is flesh is flesh. And that's all it'll ever be
is flesh. That's all it'll ever be. And
that which is spirit is spirit, and that's all it will ever be,
spirit. Salvation does not come by mixing
man with God. Salvation comes by God. Without man at all, period. Salvation is not of man and the
Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Without
man's involvement at all. Salvation did not start with
man. It does not end with man. The
beginning, the middle, the end of salvation is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. To look at man
at any point is to take our eyes off of Christ. You know that
to look at man at any point is to take our eyes off of Christ.
And there is no salvation in taking our eyes off of Christ.
None whatsoever. If we want to see the new creation
that we've been made to be, and we all do, all of us do. I want to see that new creation. Why can't I see it? If there's
a new man created here, why can't I see it? If we want to see that new creation,
all we have to do is look at Jesus Christ. That's all we have
to do. Look at Christ. We'll never see
that anywhere else but in him. Now I want to close this message. I have just a few more minutes
here, but I want to close this message with the greatest proof
of what I'm saying that I could ever show you. If anything will
prove this truth to us, it's gonna be this. Okay, I hear what
you're saying, Gabe, but how can I know that's so? How can
I honestly know it's so? If anything will prove it to
us, it'll be this. Go with me back to 2 Corinthians
5. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, it says,
therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Look down at verse 21. It says,
for he hath made him to be sin. God made Christ to be sin. Now let me ask this question. Did anyone, any man or woman
on this earth, I know what God the father saw
in the substitution of Christ for his people on the cross of
Calvary. I know what God the father saw.
But did any man or woman on this earth ever see sin in Christ? The sin of God's people in Christ. I would not answer that question.
Did anyone ever see sin looking at his flesh, just looking at
him? Do we now? Did they then? Was there ever a time that any
man or woman on this earth could say, I see the sin of God's people
in Jesus Christ? Here's the answer. No, no. And again, I'm not talking about
what God the father saw. I'm talking about what man can
see. All right, that sin that was pressed into him in the garden
of Gethsemane, he sweat as it were great drops
of blood and he sorrowed even unto death because he bore the
sin of his people in his body. It was there. But as he stood before Pilate
in judgment with that sin, Even Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. I don't see any sin in this man. He is perfect. That's all I see
is his perfection. All right, now here's the glory
of the gospel. Just because it could not be seen in his flesh
by man, That does not mean that that sin was not there, and that
does not mean that that sin was not seen by God Almighty. Verse 21 says, for he hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God. Let me ask this question. Will
any man or woman on this earth ever see the actual righteousness
of Jesus Christ in our flesh? Here's the answer. No. But here's the glory of the gospel.
Just because it cannot be seen in this flesh by man, That does
not mean that it's not there, and it does not mean that it's
not seen by God Almighty. In Christ, God says we have been
made to be righteousness. God says, I see the righteousness
of Jesus Christ in you. Your sins and iniquities I will
remember no more because all I see is the righteousness of
Christ. And even though we cannot see
it in our flesh, we can see that righteousness in Him. We can see the sin that He bore
in us. What did He bear? What did Christ
bear on that cross? Just look around the room. That's
all you got to do. You want to see what Christ bore? Look at
each other. You want to see what we now bear because of that?
Look at Jesus Christ. You just look to Christ, even
though we cannot see that in our flesh, we see it in Him.
We know that it's there in Him, and if we want to see it, all
we have to do is look to Jesus Christ. Just look at Him. God has given us faith to believe
that Christ possessed our sin in Him, and we possess His righteousness
in us. In Christ, God has given us faith
to believe that old things, all of the old things of the flesh
that we're still dragging around, old things are passed away. And in Christ, not in our flesh,
but in Christ, all things have become new. Everything is brand
new. And for the record, this brother
said, amen. I believe that. I see that. Yeah, I see that. And I do too. And I pray God will give all
of us faith to see it. I pray God will give everybody
here faith to see everything in Jesus Christ. Amen.